Found injured mouse

Question
Hello, My daughter has found a baby mouse (gray house mouse) its leg is completely broken just kind of flopping around and being dragged when he walks. His tail also looks broken. He seems healthy besides his injuries and very friendly. We are feeding him dry dog food and eating it happily. I am assuming it would not survive in the wild. My question is if we kept it would his injuries cause him to be suffering in pain and not have a good quality of life? Also should we be worried about disease, mites, ect...is it normal for a baby mouse to be so friendly or is that a sign of some sort of sickness? His eyes are big black and clear and his coat looks healthy. Thank you for any advice!
-Melanie

Answer
Dear Melanie,

Poor little guy. The main factor to consider is his mental health. If he seems happy, he is fine. He will learn as best he can to adapt to his disabilities.  Unless he squeaks when you touch him a certain way, he doesn't seem to be in pain.

I suggest you get him a rat and mouse seed mix at  a pet store. Such a little guy won't eat very much so it won't be expensive. The dog food has too much protein for a mouse. That can cause various health problems.

Wild mice aren't supposed to be people-friendly, of course, but when an animal gets sick it sometimes understands that a human is helping it and becomes tame. Don't be upset if he becomes less friendly as he becomes more mobile; but he may very well choose to be a lovely pet.

He probably has mouse mites. Most mice-- even pet mice-- have mites. They don't become a problem unless they get sick, old, or stressed. You can't get them from him. He may have other parasites as well; there are visible parasites that wild mice get too. At some point when he is doing better, if he is scratching himself, losing fur, or has scabs, or of course if bugs are visible, you will need to treat him. Don't worry about that until it happens.

Deer mice can very rarely carry a disease called hantavirus that people can get, but mercifully house mice cannot. Any bite should be washed carefully with peroxide, covered with antiseptic, and observed; but there is no danger of anything terrible that the mouse can carry to hurt you.

Lastly, do not blame yourselves if he suddenly sickens or passes away. You don't know what happened to him, and he may have internal injuries. He's probably just fine, though.

squeaks,

Natasha